I thought I would share my triple defenders list and why I think it's so much fun to play. Particularly if you want thrilling dogfights without having to play the pilot skill game.

Countess Ryad (34)
Predator (3)
Tractor Beam (1)
Engine Upgrade (4)
TIE/D (0)

Delta Squadron Pilot (30)
Twin Ion Engine Mk. II (1)
TIE/x7 (-2)

Delta Squadron Pilot (30)
Twin Ion Engine Mk. II (1)
TIE/x7 (-2)

Total: 100

View in Yet Another Squad Builder

Delta x7s are a joy to fly. The title encourages a brutally straightforward attitude, fly fast and hit hard, turn around and do it again. The low PS means I'm confident I can make whatever manoeuvre and action I want without being blocked, which reaps dividends if I can accurately predict my opponent's moves. I don't use them to block often, usually preferring the attack, but it's a very good tactical tool at the right time. These guys will melt under concentrated fire but if you can use range and obstacles to split the enemy's fire they can both survive the initial joust while leaving a flaming wreck in their wake. The Mk II engines aren't used every game but I'd rather have a less predictable way to shed stress than a two point initiative bid.

Ryad's pilot ability in combination with a boost or barrel roll brings a lot of interesting positioning options. In my opinion this sometimes works against the x7 title so I prefer the TIE/D. Also I like being able to fire a debuffing weapon without giving up my primary weapon's damage. Tractor beams are another tactical tool and flinging ships around is great fun ("Old Terroch, let me introduce Mr Asteroid..." ) but I've found that a lot of time the -1 agility is sufficient. Predator ensures some dice modification on every shot (except when I forget ) but there are times when I would rather have the extra action from PtL. I need to experiment there.

I played five games in a local tournament and won three, coming 9th of 30. In each of the games I lost I can point to a specific blunder that put me at a serious disadvantage, so I feel I haven't achieved the list's full potential yet.

Care to share the blunders you endevoured with us?

Looks fine to me. If you are going TIE/D, then yeah, I would rather have Predator over PTL on Ryad. However, PTL + Engine on Ryad is quite good. Better with X-7, however.

Care to share the blunders you endevoured with us?

Sure. The second blunder was forgetting my predator rerolls for about 4 turns against mindlinked Guri/Palob/Manaroo. I should maybe have dealt with Palob before sensor jammer Guri too, but Guri was in a more exposed position.

The first blunder needs some context. I was facing Fenn Rau, Old Terroch and Kavil with predator, TLT and engine upgrade. Two formidable jousters, one of which can remove all the green tokens from one of my ships, and Kavil turned out to be the Delta x7's kryptonite. I accepted the joust with the fang fighters, trading one Delta x7 for Old Terroch. This left Fenn at a 90 degree angle to Ryad positioned to move from her left to her right next turn. I dialled in a 2 bank to the right for Ryad and followed it with a barrel roll to the left. Fenn revealed a k-turn and I was in the perfect position to blast him in the face! Hurrah! Perfect positioning to not avoid the same rock I had smashed Old Terroch into. Oh no!

Fenn and Ryad exchanged damage but both survived and in the next turn Ryad was forced to manoeuvre over the rock. She took a point of damage and 2 more damage from Kavil's TLT were enough to finish her. If I'd made that previous bank at speed 1 she could have turned away from the rock, probably still taken the damage from Kavil, but survived another turn.

My other Delta pilot blocked Fenn to prevent a range 1 exchange of fire then stayed on his tail for the kill. Delta x7 vs super-Kavil in the endgame. Unfortunately Kavil's higher pilot skill, turret, boost and predator vs PS1 was too much for me and after several turns of great dogfighting I lost the duel. Having Ryad around for another turn or two could have changed that result.

Looks fine to me. If you are going TIE/D, then yeah, I would rather have Predator over PTL on Ryad. However, PTL + Engine on Ryad is quite good. Better with X-7, however.

With the x7 title I agree that PtL is hard to beat, though I am keen on juke too. I also believe that x7 is the more competitive choice than /D but I rejected it on Ryad here for two reasons. Firstly, it has a bit of anti-synergy with her pilot ability. I've used the speed 2 k-turn a lot to stay close to my target but x7 encourages going faster. Second, and far more significant, I wanted to play with the tractor beam. It presents so many more interesting tactical situations and that means more fun (to me at least).

Yesterday I played this against my friend's Cartel Crackdown - 3 cartel kihraxz and 2 cartel sycks with mangler cannons. Ryad absolutely shone here, pulling a scyk into range 1 before murdering it with a single volley. She then went on to deal most of the damage to the rest of the enemy ships while the Delta x7s blocked and soaked up hits. It helped that every target was PS2 and almost every predator re-roll was a hit.